Workers in the Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.72 in May 2010, roughly three percent below the nationwide average of $21.35, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly lower than their respective national averages in 9 of the 22 major occupational groups, including computer and mathematical and business and financial operations, and significantly higher in 4 groups, including transportation and material moving. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support, transportation and material moving, and business and financial operations. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; education, training, and library; and sales and related.

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Harrisburg had 19,780 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 6.5 percent of local area employment, significantly above the 4.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $29.60, measurably below the national wage of $32.54.

With employment of 3,060, accountants and auditors was the largest occupation within the business and financial operations group, followed by management analysts (2,380). Among the higher-paying jobs were logisticians and management analysts, with mean hourly wages of $36.59 and $34.43, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were tax preparers ($14.25) and meeting, convention, and event planners ($21.27). (Detailed occupational data for business and financial operations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_25420.htm.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.0 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area as it does nationally. In the Harrisburg area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, tax examiners and collectors and revenue agents were employed at nearly four times the national rate in Harrisburg, and logisticians, at over three times the U.S. average. On the other hand, cost estimators had a location quotient of 0.9 in Harrisburg, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Pennsylvania Center for Workforce Information and Analysis. The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and nearly 800 non-military detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands also are surveyed, but their data are not included in this release. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 establishments in May and November of each year for a 3-year period. The nationwide response rate for the May 2010 survey was 78.2 percent based on establishments and 74.4 percent based on employment. May 2010 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2010, November 2009, May 2009, November 2008, May 2008, and November 2007. The sample in the Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,729 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2010 OES estimates mark the first set of estimates based in part on data collected using the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. Nearly all the occupations in this release are 2010 SOC occupations; however, some are not. The May 2012 OES data will reflect the full set of detailed occupations in the 2010 SOC. For a list of all occupations, including 2010 SOC occupations, and how data collected on two structures were combined, see the OES Frequently Asked Questions online at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm#Ques41.

Area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Cumberland, Dauphin, and Perry Counties in Pennsylvania.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro3/. If you have additional questions, you can contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office at (215) 597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone:  202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2010

Occupation	Employment		Mean wage
	Level(1)	Location quotient(2)	Hourly	Annual
Business and financial operations occupations	19,780	1.4	$29.60	$61,570
Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products	310	1.2	25.57	53,180
Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products	830	1.3	28.85	60,000
Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators	1,680	2.7	25.67	53,390
Compliance officers	720	1.5	28.93	60,160
Cost estimators	410	0.9	27.34	56,860
Human resources, training, and labor relations specialists, all other*	1,600	1.6	27.78	57,780
Logisticians	830	3.3	36.59	76,100
Management analysts	2,380	1.8	34.43	71,620
Meeting, convention, and event planners*	230	1.7	21.27	44,240
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists	410	1.6	26.94	56,030
Training and development specialists	780	1.6	23.71	49,320
Market research analysts and marketing specialists*	870	1.4	27.09	56,350
Business operations specialists, all other*	1,730	0.7	34.15	71,030
Accountants and auditors	3,060	1.2	29.68	61,730
Appraisers and assessors of real estate	90	0.6	26.32	54,740
Budget analysts	300	2.1	30.48	63,390
Credit analysts	120	0.8	24.99	51,980
Financial analysts	820	1.6	31.91	66,360
Personal financial advisors	180	0.5	31.83	66,220
Insurance underwriters	560	2.5	33.56	69,810
Financial examiners	110	1.7	31.73	66,010
Credit counselors	(3)	(3)	20.17	41,950
Loan officers	470	0.7	27.50	57,190
Tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents	630	3.8	22.09	45,940
Tax preparers	120	0.9	14.25	29,650
Financial specialists, all other	380	1.0	33.48	69,640
* This occupation has the same title, but not necessarily the same content, as the 2010 SOC occupation.
Footnotes: (1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers. (2) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average. (3) Estimate not released.